How much should we support the arts?

by Kerry Richards

Pembroke High School has been criticized by some students for spending too much money on the arts. Students gripe that the school spent so much on a perfect auditorium, but a faulty gym. They complain that the drama club always has so much money (most of it from PAPA), while other clubs and sports can barely support themselves. Many even suggest that Principal Lynch would rather donate practically the entire B building to the Art department and neglect sports.
Is this worth it? How important are the arts to a high school education?
Our drama department is obviously benefiting as "The King and I" was recently selected to be part of the North Shore Community Theatre Spotlight Awards. They were nominated for Best Choreography, Best Technical Crew/ Execution, Best Leading Actress- Meghan Haskins, and Best Supporting Actor- Matthew Foster.
Jono King and Meghan Haskins will be performing at the Finale production number during the awards presentations.
This is a huge honor and means a lot to Pembroke High School. However, it raises the question of the importance of arts.
Art is no longer a requirement of graduation at Pembroke High, although it is at many others, and many students go through high school with out it.
Perhaps, this should not be the case...

- Secondary students who participated in band or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs). — Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse Report. Reported in Houston Chronicle, January 1998

- The very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry are, nearly without exception, practicing musicians. — Grant Venerable, "The Paradox of the Silicon Savior," as reported in "The Case for Sequential Music Education in the Core Curriculum of the Public Schools," The Center for the Arts in the Basic Curriculum, New York, 1989

- In an analysis of U.S. Department of Education data on more than 25,000 secondary school students (NELS:88, National Education Longitudinal Survey), researchers found that students who report consistent high levels of involvement in instrumental music over the middle and high school years show “significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12.” This observation holds regardless of students’ socio-economic status, and differences in those who are involved with instrumental music vs. those who are not is more significant over time. — Catterall, James S., Richard Chapleau, and John Iwanaga. “Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive Involvement in Music and Theater Arts.” Los Angeles, CA: The Imagination Project at UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, 1999.

- Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medical school applicants. He found that 66% of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. 44% of biochemistry majors were admitted. — As reported in "The Case for Music in the Schools," Phi Delta Kappan, February 1994

- A University of California (Irvine) study showed that after eight months of keyboard lessons, preschoolers showed a 46% boost in their spatial reasoning IQ. — Rauscher, Shaw, Levine, Ky and Wright, "Music and Spatial Task Performance: A Causal Relationship," University of California, Irvine, 1994

All research points to music and arts having a positive impact. It broadens horizons and even helps students in other subjects. Perhaps, Pembroke should reinstate fine arts requirements. Can it really hurt with all of the courses offered here?